Jets' past and present will be on full display Sunday with Colts at center of it all

When the Indianapolis Colts come to MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon, they will find themselves in the middle of the past and present of the New York Jets franchise.

50 years ago, Joe Namath and the Jets shocked Johnny Unitas and the Colts in Superbowl III. Fittingly, New York will honor its 1968 Superbowl team in Week 6 at halftime with the Colts in town. The celebration will bring back bad memories for Colts fans and happy ones for Jets fans. Fans aren’t the only ones excited for the ceremony, though, as Jets players are well aware of the significance of the happenings of Sunday afternoon.

“That’s a pretty good gig,” Jamal Adams said of the ceremony. “That’s a huge honor. We’ll go out there and kind of reminisce with folks. I’m excited for it.”

The festivities will undoubtedly steal the show, but it is more than a simple ceremony to honor the greatest team the Jets have ever fielded.

Since the Jets defeated the Colts in 1968, Indianapolis has remained a part of the franchise’s history. New York has not won a Superbowl since knocking off the Colts and when the Jets found themselves one game away from returning to the Superbowl in 2009, Indianapolis sent them home with a 30-17 loss. Since New York’s Superbowl victory, the Colts are 42-30 against Gang Green.

Fast forward to this past March and ironically, it was the Colts who aided the Jets in their quest to return for prominence. If Mike Maccagnan and Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard never agreed to a deal that would allow New York to move up from No. 6 to No. 3 in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Jets never would’ve landed their potential franchise quarterback in Sam Darnold. The Colts also gave the Jets defensive end Henry Anderson, who has become a starter on New York’s defensive line.

Without the Colts, the Jets wouldn’t have a Lombardi Trophy to their name and they wouldn’t have Sam Darnold under center for the foreseeable future, either.

Darnold has taken the place of Namath under center, while Andrew Luck has replaced the legendary Unitas on the other side. Players change, but the game remains the same. Regardless of who is on the field, the Jets and the Colts will always be linked thanks to their unique history.

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